Watch, Watched, Watching: The Workprint Prototype Version

[Nictarion]

54 minutes ago, Ramsay Blow said:

I almost watched that a few times, will check it out soon. Speaking of depressing documentaries on Netflix, ever see "Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father"? That one takes the cake for me. It's really sad and downright infuriating, but worth a view. Watch with tissues.

Yeah, I watched that one a while back. Infuriating is the only way to describe it. The grandparents work to change the laws up in Canada was extremely admirable. They seemed like genuinely great people. Such a shame so much tragedy befell them.

Noreen Gosch is similarly admirable. After her son was kidnapped in the early 80's, she and John Walsh were at the forefront in getting some of the laws changed in how kidnapping case's are handled by the police. Unfortunately, I think her grief over her son's abduction drove her mad over the years.

 

I don't believe Johnny really visited Noreen's home in the late 90's. She could have been a victim of an extremely cruel prank by an imposter, but I think the more likely scenario was she completely imagined the encounter with her adult son.

[Theda Baratheon]

1 hour ago, Isis said:

I loved it. I mentioned it in this thread at the time - can't recall exactly what I wrote then. I'd loved the girl who became heroine of her own story - 'you might recognise me because I AM THE PRINCESS'.

Yeah I loved her too. Reminded me of Sansa. A spoiled naïve dreamer at the start who turns into a pretty kick ass character through tragedy. 

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

Managed to finished Season 1 of Hannibal. To be fair it DID improve as it went on,  it became less of a 'killer of the week' and focussed a bit more on the only interesting element of the show,Hannibal.

Mads is great in the role, and I love every minute with him on screen. However almost everything else about the show is network style trash. Every one of the actors is either not trying that hard, miscast or just not able to do much with the shoddy writing.

Laurence Fishburne hasn't tried hard in anything in over a decade and didn't bother much here either. It didn't help that he was more a cardboard cutout than a character, whose motivations were muddled and poorly laid out. The entire supporting cast was misused and mostly woeful, especially the kids in the hall guy who provided an odd comic relief during autopsies in the same way as the camp character in Airplane did. Misjudged. 

I guess it had something by the end that kept me watching, because I finished it, but you can see its a network tv show, it just doesn't have a good level of quality writing with in it, in fact at times its almost braindead. But I guess some people can forgive it.

[Veltigar]

Seriously disagree in regards to Hannibal. It really came to fruition in season two, but even during the first season this was a lot smarter than anything the networks usually vomit out into the world. Look at stuff like Lucifer to see a similar concept (at least for a first season) being run into the ground because it was all lazily handled. I would have loved Hannibal to throw of its shackles a bit sooner, but during that first season it had to take care not to alienate the network to much.

However, it has things that a regular network show couldn't even dream off. It has a fantastic cast for starters. Mads Mikkelsen, who you rightly praised, is one of the very best actors working today. Hugh Dancy wore the brunt of the more run-of-the-mills elements of Hannibal's first season, but he's a damn fine actor when you look at his output. Also seriously disagree regarding Laurence Fishburne, if you knew where his arc was headed, well you wouldn't be saying that he wasn't trying at all, because he gives a very fine performance. Easily better than Harvey Keitel imo. In fact, every single actor outshines his movie counterpart over the course of this show.

Furthermore, it looks quite unlike anything on network TV. It's beautifully put together, all of it. Mads' suits are to die for, his office exudes the sort of old world class you would expect from his character and the way all these grizzly murders are shot lends the show a sort of air of heightened reality about it. Something that definitely grows stronger as the show continues. And don't even get me started on the food, which is just 

As to the writing, yes in season one that had to make to much compromises to rise to the level of its second season, but even then it was much, much better than Navy NCIS and CSI: Bismarck or whatever city they are on now. There are corny elements it (the I can see the murder happening through feelings, which almost completely fades into the background in season two) and you can give that first season a lot of flack for that, but to put it on the same level as the usual drivel released on American network tv, that's just plain wrong dude. 

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

Well I can only talk about the first season, if it gets better as it goes on then I look forward to it. There are moments where I get the feeling it could be great, but there is far too much network baggage holding it down still. If i compare it to other network shows then sure, its a lot better, but compare it to almost anything from HBO or Netflix then its lagging way behind so far.

My main problem, amongst many is that the central idea of the show is so ludicrous and tired that everything else around it is sinking into poor foundations. The idea of main character who solves crimes by ' superhuman empathy' is plain silly, and the way they visualised it was so flashy , I mean every time Ben Kenobi and Darth Vaders lightsabers whizzed on screen I groaned! But Will Graham as a character, and he is the main focus of the show, is a huge problem. Hes totally unbelievable, his condition is ridiculous and he's not really written in any way that resembles a human being. So the show becomes a lazy 'detective with a special power for catching villains' show for much of that first season. Plus , no idea if the actor is good, but he seems wrong for the role, it doesn't help that he constantly looks like a hearthrob in every shot, even when they are trying to make him look ill. 

And none of the relationships with Will work or make sense, especially any love life they attempted to set up but not really follow through on. I could never buy into Hannibal wanting Will to be his friend either, other than the script telling me that he wanted it, there was nothing really there between them that demonstrated a connection.

And the whole season kind of hung on that. 

The times where the show was absolutely at its strongest were where Hannibal was on his own, doing his own show. When Tobias (the cello guy) tried to kill him, although the fight was silly, the relationship there was interesting. As is the way he sees other killers. Unfortunately the majority of the show was about Will. I hope that later seasons kill Will off!

[Veltigar]

3 minutes ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

My main problem, amongst many is that the central idea of the show is so ludicrous and tired that everything else around it is sinking into poor foundations. The idea of main character who solves crimes by ' superhuman empathy' is plain silly, and the way they visualised it was so flashy , I mean every time Ben Kenobi and Darth Vaders lightsabers whizzed on screen I groaned! 

Yeah, that element was the worst part of season one. It never gains the same prominence again.

5 minutes ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

 it doesn't help that he constantly looks like a hearthrob in every shot, even when they are trying to make him look ill. 

And none of the relationships with Will work or make sense, especially any love life they attempted to set up but not really follow through on. I could never buy into Hannibal wanting Will to be his friend either, other than the script telling me that he wanted it, there was nothing really there between them that demonstrated a connection.

Oh, keep watching, it will make sense in the end  

6 minutes ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

The times where the show was absolutely at its strongest were where Hannibal was on his own, doing his own show. When Tobias (the cello guy) tried to kill him, although the fight was silly, the relationship there was interesting. As is the way he sees other killers. Unfortunately the majority of the show was about Will. I hope that later seasons kill Will off!

Yeah, Mads is perfect in this 

[James Arryn]

Watched S1 of Ray Donovan. Filing it under 'well done but depressing' in that Mad Men kinda way, wherein the quality ultimately means it's more effectively depressing. I like Liev Schiber, which is why I watched as much as I did, but it still feels like an investment in bleakness. Dunno if I'll watch more. 

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

5 minutes ago, James Arryn said:

Watched S1 of Ray Donovan. Filing it under 'well done but depressing' in that Mad Men kinda way, wherein the quality ultimately means it's more effectively depressing. I like Liev Schiber, which is why I watched as much as I did, but it still feels like an investment in bleakness. Dunno if I'll watch more. 

I never found it especially bleak, mainly because most of the characters are incredibly fun to watch. Especially Jon Voight who is brilliant in that show. 

[Theda Baratheon]

Watching pan‘s labyrinth one of my all time favourites, just watched The Lobster which I really liked 

[Nictarion]

31 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Watching pan‘s labyrinth one of my all time favourites, just watched The Lobster which I really liked 

Pan's Labyrinth is being released on Criterion Collection Blu Ray next month. Thinking about getting it. Such a great movie. 

[Theda Baratheon]

6 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

Pan's Labyrinth is being released on Criterion Collection Blu Ray next month. Thinking about getting it. Such a great movie. 

I still don't have a blu ray player :I haven't watched a blu ray yet either 

[Nictarion]

26 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said:

I still don't have a blu ray player :I haven't watched a blu ray yet either 

 Certain movies it's like seeing them for the first time. It took me years, but I replaced my entire DVD collection on Blu-ray. 

[Theda Baratheon]

I have to watch blade runner on blue Ray 

[polishgenius]

35 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said:

I have to watch blade runner on blue Ray 

Watch the Matrix it's better.



 

[Theda Baratheon]

1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

Watch the Matrix it's better.



 

Look I like you polish but I WILL fight you

[Astromech]

6 hours ago, James Arryn said:

Watched S1 of Ray Donovan. Filing it under 'well done but depressing' in that Mad Men kinda way, wherein the quality ultimately means it's more effectively depressing. I like Liev Schiber, which is why I watched as much as I did, but it still feels like an investment in bleakness. Dunno if I'll watch more. 

I finally quit watching it this season about two episodes in. Jon Voight's, Mickey Donovan kept me watching, but even that one bright spot of the show for me wasn't enough with all of the other miserable arcs. Depressing is an understatement.

Finished season 2 of Narcos. I enjoyed it more than the first. However, Wagner Moura's fat vest bothered me all season long.

[polishgenius]

Hey, you're lucky I named another great film and not, say, Inception.

[First of My Name]

Watched the first season of Stranger Things and really enjoyed it. The acting, music and visuals were all great, and I thought it way scarier than most horror movies, especially the first two episodes. Probably my favorite horror story in the visual medium.

Also finished the first season of Star Wars Rebels, which was alright.

[Durckad]

14 hours ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

Managed to finished Season 1 of Hannibal. To be fair it DID improve as it went on,  it became less of a 'killer of the week' and focussed a bit more on the only interesting element of the show,Hannibal.

Mads is great in the role, and I love every minute with him on screen. However almost everything else about the show is network style trash. Every one of the actors is either not trying that hard, miscast or just not able to do much with the shoddy writing.

Laurence Fishburne hasn't tried hard in anything in over a decade and didn't bother much here either. It didn't help that he was more a cardboard cutout than a character, whose motivations were muddled and poorly laid out. The entire supporting cast was misused and mostly woeful, especially the kids in the hall guy who provided an odd comic relief during autopsies in the same way as the camp character in Airplane did. Misjudged. 

I guess it had something by the end that kept me watching, because I finished it, but you can see its a network tv show, it just doesn't have a good level of quality writing with in it, in fact at times its almost braindead. But I guess some people can forgive it.

Hannibal is an absolutely ridiculous and over the top show. If you can get past that aspect and the serial-killer-of-the-week structure that absolutely plagues the first season (and yes it does plague the first season, each and every one of those serial killers are all completely ludicrous), it does get a lot better. Plus, the show is very stylish and I think most of the acting is pretty good, barring the occasional actor.

[l2 0 5 5]

Just started re-watching Boardwalk Empire with my fiance.  She's digging it.  I haven't watched the series since it ended so some of the earlier seasons aren't the freshest in my mind which is nice for the sake of re-watching a series. The next episode is 'Home', one my personal favorites due to the introduction of Richard Harrow!!